This Morning Routine will Save You 20+ Hours Per Week
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June 5,
2019
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The traditional 9–5 workday is poorly structured for high productivity. Perhaps when
most work was physical labor, but not in the knowledge working world we now live in.
Although this may be obvious based on people’s mediocre performance, addiction to
stimulants, lack of engagement, and the fact that most people hate their jobs — now
there’s loads of scientific evidence you can’t ignore.
The Myth of the 8 Hour Workday
The most productive countries in the world do not work 8 hours per day. Actually, the
most productive countries have the shortest workdays.
People in countries like Luxembourg are working approximately 30 hours per week
(approximately 6 hours per day, 5 days per week) and making more money on average
than people working longer workweeks.
This is the average person in those countries. But what about the super-productive?
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Although Gary Vaynerchuck claims to work 20 hours per day, many “highly successful”
people I know work between 3–6 hours per day.
It also depends on what you’re really trying to accomplish in your life. Gary Vaynerchuck
wants to own the New York Jets. He’s also fine, apparently, not spending much time with
his family.
And that’s completely fine. He’s clear on his priorities.
However, you must also be clear on yours. If you’re like most people, you probably want
to make a great income, doing work you love, that also provides lots of flexibility in your
schedule.
If that’s your goal, this post is for you.
Quality Vs. Quantity
“Wherever you are, make sure you’re there.” — Dan Sullivan
If you’re like most people, your workday is a blend of low-velocity work mixed with
continual distraction (e.g., social media and email).
Most people’s “working time” is not done at peak performance levels. When most people
are working, they do so in a relaxed fashion. Makes sense, they have plenty of time to get
it done.
However, when you are results-oriented, rather than “being busy,” you’re 100 percent on
when you’re working and 100 percent off when you’re not. Why do anything half-way? If
you’re going to work, you’re going to work.
To get the best results in your fitness, research has found that shorter but more
intensive exercise is more effective than longer drawn-out exercise.
The concept is simple: Intensive activity followed by high quality rest and recovery.
Most of the growth actually comes during the recovery process. However, the only way
to truly recover is by actually pushing yourself to exhaustion during the workout.
The same concept applies to work. The best work happens in short intensive spurts. By
short, I’m talking 1–3 hours. But this must be “Deep Work,” with no distractions, just like
an intensive workout is non-stop. Interestingly, your best work — which for most people
is thinking — will actually happen while you’re away from your work, “recovering.”
For best results: Spend 20% of your energy on your work and 80% of your energy on
recovery and self-improvement. When you’re getting high quality recovery, you’re
growing. When you’re continually honing your mental model, the quality and impact of
your work continually increases. This is what psychologists call, “Deliberate Practice.” It’s
not about doing more, but better training. It’s about being strategic and results-focused,
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not busyness-focused.
In one study, only 16 percent of respondents reported getting creative insight while at
work. Ideas generally came while the person was at home, in transportation, or during
recreational activity. “The most creative ideas aren’t going to come while sitting in front of
your monitor,” says Scott Birnbaum, a vice president of Samsung Semiconductor.
The reason for this is simple. When you’re working directly on a task, your mind is tightly
focused on the problem at hand (i.e., direct reflection).Conversely, when you’re not
working, your mind loosely wanders (i.e., indirect reflection).
While driving or doing some other form of recreation, the external stimuli in your
environment (like the buildings or other landscapes around you) subconsciously prompt
memories and other thoughts. Because your mind is wandering both contextually (on
different subjects) and temporally between past, present, and future, your brain will
make distant and distinct connections related to the problem you’re trying to solve
(eureka!).
Creativity, after all, is making connections between different parts of the brain. Ideation
and inspiration is a process you can perfect.
Case in point: when you’re working, be at work. When you’re not working, stop working.
By taking your mind off work and actually recovering, you’ll get creative breakthroughs
related to your work.
Your First Three Hours Will Make or Break You
According to psychologist Ron Friedman, the first three hours of your day are your most
precious for maximized productivity.
“Typically, we have a window of about three hours where we’re really, really focused. We’re
able to have some strong contributions in terms of planning, in terms of thinking, in terms of
speaking well,” Friedman told Harvard Business Review.
This makes sense on several levels. Let’s start with sleep. Research confirms the brain,
specifically the prefrontal cortex, is most active and readily creative immediately
following sleep. Your subconscious mind has been loosely mind-wandering while you
slept, making contextual and temporal connections.
So, immediately following sleep, your mind is most readily active to do thoughtful work.
So, your brain is most attuned first thing in the morning, and so are your energy levels.
Consequently, the best time to do your best work is during the first three hours of your
day.
I used to exercise first thing in the morning. Not anymore. I’ve found that exercising first
thing in the morning actually sucks my energy, leaving me with less than I started.
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Lately, I’ve been waking up at 6AM, driving to my school and walking to the library I work
in. While walking from my car to the library, I drink a 250 calorie plant-based protein
shake (approximately 30 grams of protein).
Donald Layman, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois, recommends
consuming at least 30 grams of protein for breakfast. Similarly, Tim Ferriss, in his book,
The 4-Hour Body, also recommends 30 grams of protein 30 minutes after awaking.
Protein-rich foods keep you full longer than other foods because they take longer to
leave the stomach. Also, protein keeps blood-sugar levels steady, which prevent spikes in
hunger.
I get to the library and all set-up by around 6:30AM. I spend a few minutes in prayer and
meditation, followed by a 5–10 minute session in my journal. The purpose of this journal
session is get clarity and focus for my day.
Journaling about your dreams is one of the fastest ways into a peak state.
So I write down my big picture goals and my objectives for that particular day. I then
write down anything that comes to my mind. Often, it relates to people I need to contact,
or ideas related to a project I’m working on. I purposefully keep this journal session short
and focused.
By 6:45, I’m set to work on whatever project I’m working on, whether that’s writing a
book or an article, working on a research paper for my doctoral research, creating an
online course, etc.
Starting work this early may seem crazy to you, but I’ve been shocked by how easy it is to
work for 2–5 hours straight without distractions. My mind is laser at this time of day. And
I don’t rely on any stimulants at all.
Between 11AM–noon, my mind is ready for a break, so that’s when I do my workout.
Research confirms that you workout better with food in your system. Consequently, my
workouts are now a lot more productive and powerful than they were when I was
exercising immediately following sleep.
After the workout, which is a great mental break, you should be fine to work a few more
hours, if needed.
If your 3–5 hours before your workout were focused, you could probably be done for the
day.
Protect Your Mornings
I understand that this schedule will not work for everyone. There are single-parents with
kids who simply can’t do something like this.
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We all need to work within the constraints of our unique contexts. However, if you work
best in the morning, you gotta find a way to make it [Link] may require waking up
a few extra hours earlier than you’re used to and taking a nap during the afternoon.
Or, it may require you to simply focus hardcore the moment you get to work.A common
strategy for this is known as the “90–90–1” rule, where you spend the first 90 minutes of
your workday on your #1 priority. I’m certain this isn’t checking your email or social
media.
Whatever your situation, protect your mornings!
I’m blown away by how many people schedule things like meetings in the mornings.
Nothing could be worse for peak performance and creativity.
Schedule all of your meetings for the afternoon, after lunch.
Don’t check your social media or email until after your 3 hours of deep work. Your
morning time should be spent on output, not input.
If you don’t protect your mornings, a million different things will take up your time. Other
people will only respect you as much as you respect yourself.
Protecting your mornings means you are literally unreachable during certain hours. Only
in case of serious emergency can you be summoned from your focus-cave.
Mind-Body Connection
What you do outside work is just as significant for your work-productivity as what you do
while you’re working.
A March 2016 study in the online issue of Neurology found that regular exercise can slow
brain aging by as much as 10 years. Loads of other research has found that people who
regularly exercise are more productive at work . Your brain is, after all, part of your body.
If your body is healthier, it makes sense that your brain would operate better.
If you want to operate at your highest level, you need to take a holistic approach to life.
You are a system. When you change a part of any system, you simultaneously change
the whole. Improve one area of your life, all other areas improve in a virtuous cycle. This
is the butterfly effect in action and the basis of the book, The Power of Habit, which shows
that by integrating one “keystone habit,” like exercise or reading, that the positivity of
that one habits ripples into all other areas of your life, eventually transforming your
whole life.
Consequently, the types of foods you eat, and when you eat them, determine your
ability to focus at work. Your ability to sleep well (by the way, it’s easy to sleep well when
you get up early and work hard) is also essential to peak-performance. Rather than
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managing your time, then, you should really be focused on managing your energy. Your
work schedule should be scheduled around when you work best, not around social norms
and expectations.
Don’t Forget to Psychologically Detach and Play
Research in several fields has found that recovery from work is a necessity for staying
energetic, engaged, and healthy when facing job demands.
“Recovery” is the process of reducing or eliminating physical and psychological
strain/stress caused by work.
One particular recovery strategy that is getting lots of attention in recent research is
called “psychological detachment from work.” True psychological detachment occurs
when you completely refrain from work-related activities and thoughts during non-work
time.
Proper detachment/recovery from work is essential for physical and psychological
health, in addition to engaged and productive work. Yet, few people do it. Most people
are always “available” to their email and work. Millennials are the worst, often wearing
the openness to work “whenever” as a badge of honor. It’s not a badge of honor.
Research has found that people who psychologically detach from work experience:
When you’re at work, be fully absorbed. When it’s time to call it a day, completely detach
yourself from work and become absorbed in the other areas of your life.
If you don’t detach, you’ll never fully be present or engaged at work or at home. You’ll be
under constant strain, even if minimally. Your sleep will suffer. Your relationships will be
shallow. Your life will not be happy.
Not only that, but lots of science has found play to be extremely important for
productivity and creativity. Just like your body needs a reset, which you can get through
fasting, you also need to reset from work in order to do your best work. Thus, you need to
step away from work and dive into other beautiful areas of your life. For me, that’s
goofing off with my kids.
Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, has studied the “Play Histories”
of over six thousand people and concludes playing can radically improve everything —
from personal well-being to relationships to learning to an organization’s potential to
innovate. As Greg McKeown explains, “Very successful people see play as essential for
creativity.”
In his TED talk, Brown said, “Play leads to brain plasticity, adaptability, and creativity…
Nothing fires up the brain like play.” There is a burgeoning body of literature highlighting
the extensive cognitive and social benefits of play, including:
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Cognitive
Enhanced memory and focus
Improved language learning skills
Creative problem solving
Improved mathematics skills
Increased ability to self-regulate, an essential component of motivation and goal
achievement
Social
Cooperation
Team work
Conflict resolution
Leadership skill development
Control of impulses and aggressive behavior
Having a balanced-life is key to peak performance. In the Tao Te Ching, it explains that
being too much yin or too much yang leads to extremes and being wasteful with your
resources (like time). The goal is to be in the center, balanced.
Listen to Brain Music or Songs on Repeat
In her book, On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind, psychologist Elizabeth Hellmuth
Margulis explains why listening to music on repeat improves focus. When you’re listening
to a song on repeat, you tend to dissolve into the song, which blocks out mind wandering
(let your mind wander while you’re away from work!).
Wordpress founder, Matt Mullenweg, listens to one single song on repeat to get into
flow. So do authors Ryan Holiday and Tim Ferriss, and many others.
Give it a try.
You can use this website to listen to YouTube video’s on repeat.
I generally listen to classical music or electronic music (like video game type music).
Here’s a few that have worked for me:
Better Humans
Better Humans is a collection of the world's most trustworthy writing on
human potential and self improvement by coaches, academics, and
aggressive self-experimenters. Articles are based on deep personal
experience, science, and research. No fluff, book reports, or listicles.
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Written by
Benjamin Hardy, PhD
Husband and father of 5 kids. Organizational Psychologist. Pre-Order
“Personality Isn’t Permanent” here: [Link]
Better Humans
Better Humans is a collection of the world's most trustworthy writing on
human potential and self improvement by coaches, academics, and
aggressive self-experimenters. Articles are based on deep personal
experience, science, and research. No fluff, book reports, or listicles.
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